Schemer (28 page)

Barry was pleased to have the distraction. He crouched down, picked Dannielle up, and swung her around in his arms. ‘You, my little sweetheart, are the most beautiful girl in the whole wide world.’

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Upset that she was seeing less and less of Linda as every week passed, Pam had taken Cathy’s advice and invited her younger sister to bring her boyfriend around for dinner. ‘Now who wants what for dessert? Strawberry trifle or black forest gateau?’ Pam asked, cleaning away the dinner plates.

‘I’ll have the gateau, mate. What do you want Michael?’ Cathy asked, nudging her son. She had only managed to entice him out of his bedroom by telling him how much he had in common with Keith.

‘I’m full up, thanks,’ Michael replied.

‘I haven’t got a sweet tooth, but I’d love another bottle of Pils,’ Keith said, cheekily grinning at Pam.

‘I’ll just have a beer an’ all,’ Lin chipped in.

‘So, what bands you into?’ Michael asked, turning to Keith.

Thrilled that her usually depressed son seemed so chirpy, Cathy followed Pam out into the kitchen.

Pam shut the door behind them. ‘I can’t take to that Keith, Cath, I really can’t. He’s so skinny, he looks like a bleedin’ beanpole, and he don’t smell very wholesome either. Have you seen the state of his fingers? Bright yellow, they are, where he chain-smokes, and his teeth are gammy and look too big for his mouth.’

Cathy shrugged. ‘He’s no oil painting, mate, but he seems to be making your Lin happy. Surely that’s all that matters?’

‘My Lin’s been drinking too much again. I can tell by her eyes and her complexion. Keith’s no good for her, Cath. He’s only been here an hour and he’s already drunk six bottles of lager. I knew they’d been to the pub before they arrived an’ all, I could smell it on the pair of ’em’s breath.’

‘Where’s the beers then?’ Lin asked, opening the kitchen door.

When Pam handed her sister three bottles of Pils, Linda smiled. ‘I’ve got something really exciting to tell you.’

‘What?’ Pam and Cathy asked in unison.

‘Keith’s asked me to move in with him permanently and I said yes.’

Pam’s heart lurched. ‘That’s not a very nice area where Keith lives, love, and what about getting up for work and stuff? Surely you’re better to stay round Keith’s of a weekend and here in the week. You know you’re not very organized of a morning without me helping you.’

Linda’s expression turned from happy to sheepish. She had got sacked from her factory job two weeks ago for taking too much time off sick. ‘I don’t work there any more,’ she mumbled, awkwardly.

‘What do you mean you don’t work there any more?’ Pam asked, angrily.

‘They had to lay people off and because I was one of the new girls, I got the bullet. It weren’t just me, four others got made redundant as well,’ Linda lied.

‘Just take the beers in the other room, Lin.’

‘She’s fucking lying! Made redundant, my arse! Got the sack for lying in bed all day with that pisshead more like,’ Pam said to Cath, when Linda took the beers in the other room.

‘She’s a grown woman, Pam. You can’t rule her life for her, she has to learn by her own mistakes, mate.’

The doorbell rang before Pam could reply. ‘That must be Angie bringing Aidan back. Turned up out the blue this morning to take him out for the day,’ Pam said, marching up the hallway.

‘Look what I got, Nanna,’ Aidan said, thrusting an enormous shiny toy car her way.

‘That’s lovely. Did you have a nice time, boy?’

‘Yeah! I got loads of toys and I ate a whole pizza by myself.’

‘All his other toys are in that bag, Mum. I’d better go, because Roxy’s waiting in the motor.’

Pam had met Angela’s friend, Roxy, when she turned up to collect Aidan earlier, and had been rather surprised at how nice the girl seemed. Angela had only ever had one real friend in her life before, and that had been Chloe, who Pam had disliked immensely. ‘Why don’t you bring Roxy in for a glass of wine? Lin and her boyfriend are here and so is Cathy and Michael.’

Angela sneered and shook her head. Whenever she bumped into Michael he had a habit of leering at her breasts. He gave her the creeps. She kissed her mum on the cheek, then bent down to hug her son. ‘Get Aidan ready earlier next Saturday, Mum. Me and Roxy are going to take him to the zoo.’

Pam couldn’t help but smile as she shut the front door. For years she had wished that Angela would become a better mother to her son, and finally it seemed as though her wish might have been granted.

Clocking Stephanie frantically gesticulating at her, Tammy followed her friend out into the kitchen. ‘Tricky Dicky’s gorgeous, Tam. No wonder you’re all loved-up, mate. He seems a really nice guy as well. Good for you, you deserve to be happy.’

‘Thanks, babe. Sod me though, let’s talk about you. How does it feel seeing Barry again after all these years? He looks well, don’t he? ‘

‘I felt a bit awkward at first, but I’m OK now I’ve had a few drinks. Yeah, he does still look good, but he looks more like John Travolta now than Matt Dillon. Don’t get me wrong, I still think he’s good looking, but he ain’t a patch on my Wayne, is he?’

‘I think Barry and Wayne are both really nice-looking blokes, mate, but neither are as handsome as my Richard, of course.’

Stephanie punched her friend playfully. ‘Dannielle’s took a right shine to Barry, hasn’t she? Tyler hates him though. He went ballistic when Barry tried to pick him up, didn’t he? I wanted to laugh when he started kicking him, but I daren’t in case Wayne got the hump.’

‘Yep, Danni is certainly besotted by Barry. And are you sure you don’t still just fancy him an eenie-weenie bit?’

‘I swear, Tam, on my kiddies’ lives, I don’t fancy Barry at all.’

Barry Franklin smirked as Wayne Jackman cracked open yet another bottle of vintage champagne. Like himself, Wayne seemed to have an exquisite taste in bubbly. If he treated all his guests as well as he had him, no wonder the poor man was skint.

‘Not for me, thank you,’ Richard said as Wayne tried to top up his empty glass.

‘You’ve only had two drinks since you arrived. Go on, have another one,’ Wayne urged.

‘No honestly, I’m fine. I’m not much of a drinker now, although I was in my younger days. Tammy, are you coming to meet my friends with me? Or would you rather stay here?’

‘You’re not going yet, are you?’ Stephanie asked, hopefully. It was only 9.30 and she didn’t want to spend the rest of the evening with only Wayne and Barry for company.

Tammy stood up. ‘We’ve got to go, Steph. I told Wayne when he rang me earlier that we couldn’t stay all night. We’d already made arrangements to meet some of Richard’s friends up town.’

‘Do you want me to call you a cab?’ Wayne asked Richard.

‘No, it’s OK. We passed a train station on the way here. Grange Hill, I think it was called. The Central Line takes us exactly where we need to go, so we might as well jump on that.’

‘No probs. Well thanks for coming, Tam, and it was really nice to meet you, Richard,’ Wayne said, shaking his hand.

‘Likewise,’ Barry said, standing up and doing the same.

‘Can we sing Incy Wincy Spider again?’ Dannielle pleaded, looking up at Barry adoringly. She wasn’t used to playing games with men, her dad was always too busy, and she loved the way Barry pretended that his hand was the spider and tickled her until she screamed with laughter.

‘Don’t drive Barry mad, Danni,’ Steph said, sternly.

‘She’s fine. I love kids and am hoping to start a family of my own soon,’ Barry replied, looking Stephanie in the eyes.

Stephanie ignored Barry’s comment and walked to the front door with Tammy and Richard. ‘I wish you didn’t have to bloody go so soon. I’m gonna feel a right plum now,’ Steph whispered in her pal’s ear.

Tammy’s earlier jovial expression suddenly turned serious. ‘Barry still fancies you, I can tell by the way he keeps looking at you. Be very, very careful. I don’t trust him one little bit,’ she whispered back.

Stephanie nodded fearfully, then watched Tammy and Richard hold hands as they walked up the driveway. ‘Enjoy your evening. I’ll bell you tomorrow, Tam,’ Steph shouted as she shut the front door. Tammy had been fine with Barry’s presence earlier. She had been laughing and joking with him all evening, so what on earth had changed her mind?

Wayne and Barry were deep in discussions about the old days when Stephanie walked back into the room. Tyler was asleep on the floor and Dannielle’s eyes were shutting as she sat next to Barry with her head leaning on his arm. ‘I’m going to put the kids to bed, Wayne. They’re knackered, bless ’em.’

Wayne stood up. ‘I’ll take ’em up. You have a chat with Barry.’

‘No, I’ll take them up,’ Stephanie insisted, glaring at her fiancé.

Wayne had been necking the champagne as though it was going out of style and took no notice of Stephanie’s look of hatred. ‘Don’t be rude, babe. Bazza’s our guest and you’ve barely spoken to him yet. You’ve been so busy with the dinner and stuff,’ Wayne said, lifting Tyler off the carpet. ‘Come on Danni, bed,’ he said, prodding his daughter’s arm.

Dannielle stood up and rubbed her tired eyes. ‘Will you come to visit us again?’ she asked Barry.

Barry smiled at her. ‘Hopefully, but I’m not sure when. I live in another country, you see.’

‘You’ll see Barry again, don’t worry,’ Wayne said, as he ushered his daughter out of the room.

Stephanie felt incredibly uncomfortable as she sat in the armchair opposite her ex-boyfriend. Should she apologize about betraying him in the past? Or should she just let sleeping dogs lie? ‘I’m sorry to hear about Jake the Snake. How is your mum?’ she asked, saying the only other thing she could think of.

Barry stared at Stephanie intensely. ‘You know my mum, Steph. I think she’s more worried about what Jake’s left her in his will rather than his actual death.’

‘Wayne said that you’ve done well for yourself in Spain. What exactly do you do?’

‘I rent out properties. I bought my first one at eighteen and I now own a dozen or so. What about you? Did you ever get that good job up town that you always used to bang on about? You talk posher now, so I guess you did.’

‘I worked in a bank for a couple of years. But very soon I will be setting up my own beauty salon, and I can’t wait. I’ve done all the training, passed all my exams and Wayne is buying me the salon as a wedding present. I’ve chosen that instead of a honeymoon,’ Stephanie replied, proudly.

Barry raised his eyebrows. How the hell was Wayne going to afford a beauty salon if he was as boracic as he proclaimed to be? Not wanting to piss on Stephanie’s parade just yet, Barry grinned at her. ‘I wish you all the luck in the world with that, girl. You always had a good brain on you, so I’m sure it will be a roaring success.’

‘Wayne said that you’re engaged now. Do you and your girlfriend live together?’ Stephanie asked, genuinely interested.

‘No, we don’t live together yet, but she stays round mine most weekends. Jolene, her name is, and she still lives with her parents in the week. Do you wanna see a photo of her?’

Stephanie nodded, then sat next to Barry on the sofa so she could look at it. ‘Wow, she’s really gorgeous.’

‘Cheers. She’s a good girl actually.’

‘So, when you getting married?’

‘I don’t know yet. We’ve not long got engaged. Jolene’s only eighteen, so we’ll probably wait a year or two,’ Barry explained.

‘Well, I’m glad you’ve met the girl of your dreams. She is seriously pretty.’

‘She ain’t as pretty as you though, is she?’ Barry said, winking at Steph just to make her feel awkward.

Feeling unnerved by Barry’s cheeky comment, Stephanie stood up. ‘Let me get you another drink, your glass is empty.’

Barry grinned as Stephanie topped him up with champagne. He was determined to make her feel as uncomfortable in her own home as he possibly could. It appealed to his warped sense of humour. ‘Ere, do you remember when we used to hop over all them back gardens to get to my muvver’s house? I know we weren’t together long, but we did have a laugh, didn’t we, Steph?’

Stephanie didn’t know how to reply. Reminiscing about her past relationship with Barry somehow seemed entirely inappropriate, although she had no idea why. Nothing sexual had happened between them, so what was her problem? ‘Yeah, we did have some giggles, but we were only kids, Barry. Times change and people move on, don’t they?’ she replied, coldly.

Barry smirked. Steph’s reluctance to elaborate over their relationship only proved one thing to him. She was too frightened to reminisce, in case she awoke feelings inside herself. ‘So, how’s your mum and her sister? I know they’re still living over the road to Chantelle, but I ain’t clapped eyes on ’em since I’ve been home.’

‘My mum’s fine and she still works in that baker’s. Lin’s hardly there now; she’s got herself a serious boyfriend, believe it or not.’

‘And what about the lovely Angela?’ Barry asked, chuckling.

‘Angie don’t change. Did you know she had a son with that Jason O’Brien?’

Barry had been kept up to date with everything that had happened in Stephanie’s family over the years, but he wasn’t going to admit it. ‘No, I didn’t,’ he lied.

‘Aidan’s eight now and he’s a lovely little boy. Angie rarely sees him. She’s an awful mother.’

‘Now, why doesn’t that surprise me? Does she graft?’ Barry asked, knowing full well that Angela was a stripper.

‘Yeah, she works in Stringfellows as a lap dancer. How’s your dad? Wayne said that he got locked up again.’

‘My old man loves a bit of porridge,’ Barry replied, laughing. ‘He’s due out again soon – though how long for is anyone’s guess. Do you remember when we used to sneak up that Bishop Bonner to have a drink with him instead of going to school?’

‘Yeah, course I do.’

‘We would have made a sound couple, me and you, you know. If things had turned out differently, little Dannielle could have been mine and yours,’ Barry said, trying to keep a straight face.

Feeling herself blush, Stephanie was relieved when Wayne reappeared. ‘Tyler never woke up and Danni fell asleep after three lines of her bedtime story,’ he said, laughing.